The Puppy
by RIOTonAvenue-B
Summary: Roger's never been very fond of dogs, so what happens when Mimi convinces him to take in a stray puppy, just for a night...
1. The Puppy

**Disclaimer: I own my puppy, now if I only owned Roger and Mimi…at least I can rent them and the rest of Jonathan Larson's characters **

Mimi Marquez stopped dead in her tracks.

"Did you hear that?"

"What?" asked Roger Davis, letting go of her hand and coming to a halt beside her.

"That noise"

"No…"

"I think it came from the alley," Mimi muttered, staring at the alley way a few yards ahead of them.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Roger assured her, as her took her hand again. "Now come on, it's getting dark."

It was around 6:00PM on a winter evening in New York. Mimi and Roger were walking back to the loft from a life support meeting, while trying not to surcome to the extremely frigid weather.

Mimi sighed. Figuring she was probably over reacting like Roger had said, she squeezed onto her boyfriend's hand, and continued to walk beside him.

"See, it's nothing," said Roger as they approached the alley. But he spoke too soon.

Suddenly a loud banging noise pierced through the cool night air, as an empty trashcan fell against the asphalt in the alleyway. Before the two lovers could move away from the alley, something lunged at them from the shadows.

Roger jumped and tried to push Mimi behind him, to protect her. Panicking, her turned around to see what he was protecting her from.

He instantly felt like an ass when he turned around to see a small, filthy dog, whimpering before them on the pavement.

Roger had never been particular fond of dogs especially since he had an incident with a neighbor's dog when he was four. But as much as he disliked dogs, even he couldn't help but smile at his own foolishness.

"I think we found the noise, Meems," he laughed. "Mimi?" he turned around to look at her when she didn't respond. She was no longer behind him. "Mimi?" he called her name out, now confused, and trying not to panic. She'd been behind him a second ago….

"What?" Mimi answered.

Roger instantly snapped his head around to find Mimi crouched over, now a few feet ahead of him. She was moving towards the dog, who seemed to take no notice of the tiny Latina moving towards her, and began to sniff innocently at the pavement.

"What the hell are you doing?" exclaimed Roger. "Are you crazy? It's a stray, it could have all sorts of diseases."

Mimi stopped in her tracks and stared at him, her dark eyes were flashing. "Like us?" she fumed, then continued to move towards the puppy.

Roger couldn't think of a response, so he just stared in shock as Mimi moved closer towards the puppy.

The puppy had now noticed the two strangers standing before her, and lowered her head in fear, and stuck her long, shaggy tail between her hind legs.

Mimi moved even closer; the puppy let out a low snarl.

"Meems, come on this is a bad idea," Roger said nervously, as he watched her move even closer.

"Come here, baby," Mimi began to coo at the dog. She extended her hand to let the dog sniff it.

The dog snarled again, then lifted it's head.

"Oh shit! Mimi!" exclaimed Roger, lunging towards his girlfriend at the same time as the puppy.

But by the time Roger's arms wrapped around Mimi to pull her away from the dog, she was hysterical laughing, not screaming out in pain like Roger expected.

Roger watched in amazement as the puppy wagged its tail excitedly, and licked at Mimi's hands and face.

"Come on, baby," he extended his hand to help her up. "That was nice but we better be getting inside before it gets any colder."

Mimi took his hand and stood up, but her eyes remained fixated on the dog.

"I'm not leaving her," Mimi declared, as she bent down, and scooped the tiny puppy, rather let the puppy leap, into her arms.

"What are you doing?" asked Roger, nervous at the idea of going anywhere with a dog.

"We can't just leave her here."

"Why not?"

"It's cold"

"She's a stray she's used to it, now put her down and come on."

"Roger…" Mimi begged and pouted the soft brown eyes she knew Roger couldn't resist.

Roger gulped as he saw where Mimi was going. "And what do you propose we do with her?"

"The loft." Mimi answered dryly.

"We can't bring a dog back to the building, you know the landlord's rules," stated Roger, in a particularly 'matter-of-factly' tone.

Mimi wrapped her arms tighter around the puppy, who began to pant softly. She raised an eyebrow at Roger. "Since when is Benny 'the landlord', and since when do you give a shit about any of his rules."

"Since you decided to bring a stray dog into our home."

Mimi glared at him, then shoved the dog in his face.

"Roger look at her," she begged.

"Mimi…"

"Just do it, please."

Roger took in a deep breath and did as he was told. He got his first real look at the puppy. She was on the small side, and seemed to fit perfectly in his girlfriend's arms. An abundance of fur covered her body, but it was so caked with dirt and soot from the street that Roger couldn't make out its color under all the blackish grime. Though the dog's eyes were what struck Roger the most. At first they were hidden under her long, filthy, bangs, but Roger brushed the bangs away, with out thinking. His heart wrenched when he caught sight of the puppy's eyes. They were big and deep brown, and instantly reminded him of Mimi's. Like hers they had a certain intensity to them, sad looking, but with a pinch of hope lingering somewhere in their depths.

"Roger please, can we take her?" Mimi begged again as Roger continued to stare at the puppy, now in awe. "You know life on the street is hell, especially when it gets cold."

Roger instantly stared back at Mimi. Her words struck a nerve in him; he still felt incredibly guilty about her nearly freezing to death on the streets all those months ago when he abandoned her for Santa Fe.

"You just had to play the 'life on the street' card," he mumbled, looking back down at the puppy, and scratching her head.

"But, you know the rules," he stated. "No pets allowed, Benny's made that very cl…"

"Roger…," Mimi interrupted him.

Roger winced, trying to hold back a smile as the puppy licked at his hand.

"It would just be for a night," added Mimi quietly.

As if on cue, the puppy began to whimper, like she was begging Roger herself.

Roger bit his lip.

"Erm…fine," he uttered after a few moments. "But like you said just for tonight. She's going to the pound first thing in the morning."

Mimi squealed with delight, ignoring Roger's last sentence.

Before Roger could say anything else, Mimi leaned in and pressed her lips to his, in gratitude.

He threw his arms around her. "It's just for tonight," he reminded.

"As long as she's off the streets," Mimi smiled.

After a few short moments, they began to walk towards the loft again.

"One more thing, babe," said Roger as he stares back down at the puppy, looking up at him innocently through the protection of Mimi's arms.

"Yeah?"

"You're explaining this to Mark."


	2. Bath Time

**A/N: the present tense was really starting to get annoying, so I switched it to past tense (I went back and edited chapter 1 too, it's much better now).**

Roger and Mimi, with the puppy still in her arms, returned to the loft to find that it was empty. Mark had left a note on the kitchen table telling them he was working overtime at Buzzline that night. Roger was indifferent to this news, and threw himself on the couch with his guitar, while Mimi relaxed at the thought of having a few more hours until she had to explain the stray puppy's presence to the filmmaker. She proceeded to care for the puppy, deciding to give her a much-needed bath.

Holding on to the puppy, Mimi sat on the edge of the ancient, rusty, bathtub. She stroked the puppy's back while she waited for the tub fill with water, ignoring the fact that the filth from the puppy's fur, was rubbing of onto her hand.

"Aw, you poor baby," Mimi whispered, while the puppy panted in her lap. "I know how disgusting life on the street is."

The puppy squirmed around until she was facing Mimi. She whimpered as she stared up at her savior.

"It's okay, baby" Mimi assured her. "You're safe now, at least until Mark gets home."

The puppy suddenly sprung up, and waged her tail excitedly. She was looking towards the bathroom door.

Mimi looked up to see what the puppy was fussing over. A smile flashed across her face as she saw Roger standing over her, with some old ratty bath towels in his arms.

"Want some help, babe?" he asked.

"I don't know," she smirked. "You're sure you want to hold her, with all her diseases?"

"Well…"

With that, Mimi stood up. She walked to the head of the tub, and lowered the dog into the bath. The puppy yelped as she came into contact with the icy water, which came up to the bottom of her stomach. As soon as Mimi released her, the puppy began to whimper and claw at the edge of the tub franticly, trying to escape.

"No," said Roger firmly, as he reached into the water and pushed the dog away from the tub's edge.

In retaliation the dog began to shake wildly. Water sprayed off of her fur, soaking Roger.

"Gross," he muttered, whipping some of the dirty bathwater of off his face.

Meanwhile, Mimi rummaged through their bathroom cabinet looking for a suitable 'soap' to wash the dog down with.

"Rogaine?" she laughed as she pulled out a half-empty bottle of the hair-growth shampoo.

"Must be Collins' from when he lived here," remembered Roger. "Why do you think he always has that beanie on?"

Mimi smiled as she put the bottle back on the shelf where she'd found it, and pulled out another bottle of more-generic herbal shampoo, that had once belonged to Maureen. "This'll do".

She walked over to the tub, and bent down beside Roger. "Well, here goes," she murmured holding the bottle upside down over the puppy, who'd stopped shaking for long enough to allow Mimi to squeeze the bottle's contents out onto her back.

To Roger's surprise the puppy remained still as Mimi lathered the liquidy pink shampoo all over the puppy's head and body.

"Well are you gonna help or not?" Mimi asked him, when she looked up from the soapy dog, to find Roger backed away, simply staring at the dog.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Scrub!"

Roger rolled up his sweatshirt sleeves, and began to rub the soap into the puppy's fur like he'd watched Mimi do.

The two scrubbed at the filthy dog (who had begun to pant heavily) in silence until the soap bubbles and surrounding water turned from a dingy gray to a charcoal color, because of all the dirt.

"Time for a rinse, baby!" Mimi exclaimed at the puppy. The puppy let out a single high-pitched bark in excitement. Roger groaned.

Mimi pulled the plug beneath the faucet to drain the tub of the disgusting murky water. As the water levels lowered around her, the puppy began to shake, once again spraying Roger with water (this time it was soapy) from her damp fur. Mimi laughed at her boyfriend's expense then handed him one of the ratty towels off of the floor.

"Thanks," Roger uttered, clutching on to the towel, and backing away from the tub. Mimi didn't try to stop him this time, as she turned the faucet back on. She began to splash the cool, fresh water on the dog, washing away the soap scum.

"Ok baby, you're all clean," Mimi declared after several minutes of rising off the soap. She pulled the plug for a second time.

"Whoa," she whispered as the water drained, leaving the puppy standing in the center of the tub shivering.

"What?" asked Roger, walking back towards the tub.

"Her fur, it's really blonde….like your hair."

And sure enough, the coating of dirt and soot had been washed off the puppy to reveal that she had a coat of shaggy dirty-blonde colored fur eerily similar to the color of Roger's locks.

"Maybe it's a sign," joked Mimi, as she wrapped the puppy up in a towel, and lifted her out of the bathtub.

"Of what?"

Mimi, holding the dog in one arm, ran her fingers through his hair. "That you and this puppy are destined for each other," she cracked, putting extra emphasis on the word 'destined'.

Roger wrapped his arm around her waste.

"Nice try, babe. But she's going to the pound first thing tomorrow."

Mimi pouted, Roger ignored it and proceed to lay another towel down on the bathroom floor for the dog.

Mimi bent down to place the puppy down on the towel. She jumped back as the dog began to shake violently to dry herself off; once again water from her fur flew everywhere.

"Not so funny, now, it is it?" asked Roger, offering the towel back to her. Mimi shook her head and pushed the towel away. She was about to pick the puppy back up off of the floor, when the sound of the huge metal door being slid open echoed through the loft. Mark was home.

Before Mimi could grab her, the puppy darted out of the bathroom (Roger had forgotten to close the door) in search of the noise. "Oh, Fuck" Mimi muttered as she and Roger stood in the bathroom doorway, waiting for the filmmaker's reaction to the dog.

"Hey Roger," Mark called as he through his coat on the couch. "I stopped at the Food Emporium on my way home from…what the hell?"

Mark shrieked as he caught a glimpse of the strange puppy standing in the kitchen area, growling fiercely in his direction.

"Mark, before you freak out…" began Mimi, running out of the bathroom.

"Too late. Why the hell is there a vicious dog in our home?"

"She's hardly vicious." Mimi proved her point by approaching the dog and lifting her up. The puppy clammed down for long enough to allow Mimi to pick her up, but began to snarl at Mark again as Mimi held her.

"Why is she here?" Mark demanded.

"She was…I couldn't…"

"She's a stray," Roger explained coming out from the bathroom, and standing beside Mimi. "We found her on the street. It was freezing."

"So why the hell would you bring her here? Do you know how dangerous strays are? God knows how many diseases and…"

"Look," interrupted Roger. "It's just for the night, she's going to the pound tomorrow. We couldn't leave her."

Mark glowered at him.

"Come on Mark, you know that life on the street's hell," Roger added, shooting a quick glance at Mimi. "Remember that documentary you filmed about homelessness…what was it called again?"

"Proof positive," Mark grumbled. "And it was mostly about HIV."

"Mark…" begged Mimi. The puppy began to whimper.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Just keep that vicious fleabag away from me," he scoffed, grabbing his camera off of the sofa.

The puppy let out a low growl as Mark walked by, heading for his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him.

"Wow," uttered Mimi, placing the dog back on the floor.

Roger walked over to the sofa and collapsed into on to it. He was about to grab his guitar off of the coffee table, but stopped when Mimi sat down beside him.

"Thanks for that, babe," she whispered cupping his face in her hands.

He wrapped his arms around her. "Well, Mark can be a real ass after a day at Buzzline. I'm sure he'll come around after a few hours."

Mimi nodded at rested her head on Roger's shoulder.

Roger kissed the top of her head. He felt something claw at his leg. When he looked down the puppy was staring up at him. Her sad brown eyes seemed to be sparkling under her damp bangs. "Aw, come here baby." Mimi lifted the puppy on to the sofa, and placed her on Roger's lap. The puppy pressed her paws to Roger's chest and tried to lick at his face. Roger tried to stifle a laugh as he pushed her away. Mimi smiled.

"I think she wants to thank you, too."

"You she can't stay," Roger's voice was serious, almost disappointed.

"I know." Mimi took the puppy of off Roger's lap and put her on her own. Roger pressed his lips to Mimi's forehead one more time, before he picked his guitar back up.


	3. Time For Bed

"Fuck," Roger, exclaimed. He sat on the old, worn, mattress in his bedroom trying to write a new song on his Fender. Mimi had left to go to work nearly an hour ago, leaving him alone with his guitar, and the puppy. Roger, who didn't want to be bothered by the animal, threw some blankets in an old cardboard box in the corner of the bedroom. He placed her in it as a makeshift dog bed/pen.

The puppy had been sitting quietly in her cardboard containment, but Roger's outburst stirred a reaction out of her. She began to bark, erratically.

"What?" Roger asked, becoming irritated. The puppy continued to bark and stood up against the edge of the box.

"Stop it, bab…" He stopped himself; he wasn't about to call the dog 'baby'. "Look, its really late, go to sleep." The puppy responded with a soft whimper.

Roger attempted to block the dog out and strummed a few chords on his guitar. But the shaggy little pup wasn't going to let Roger ignore her that easily. She yelped over his playing until he dropped the instrument in frustration. "What do you want?" he grumbled as he got off of the bed and walked over to the cardboard box. He stared down at the puppy. She began to wag her tail and pant as Roger hovered over her. Still annoyed he bent over and hoisted her out of the box. "It's time for you to sleep," he said sharply, looking into the dog's sad, chocolaty eyes. She tried to lick at his face, but he pulled her away and began to lower her back into the makeshift bed.

Just as Roger was about to let go of her, a loud rumbling noise sounded from the dog's stomach. Roger sighed as he realized that the dog hadn't eaten anything since they brought her home.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. The puppy wagged her tail and let out a single bark. Roger lifted her out of the box for a second time, this time he cringed as he realized he could feel the dogs' ribs through her fur. She hadn't eaten in a while.

"It's okay ba…I mean…Come on, I'll find you something to eat," stuttered Roger, heading towards the kitchen with the dog in his arms. It scared him how much he was beginning to sound like Mimi.

When he reached the kitchen, Roger opened the pantry in search of something to feed the dog. Of course they didn't have any dog food, but there was bound to be something the dog could eat, or so Roger figured.

"Damn it," he exclaimed as he realized the cabinet was empty except for a few cans of condensed soup that had expired a year ago, and an open box of ramen noodles.

The puppy's stomach growled again and she began to whimper. Roger cursed under his breath, and then rubbed the dog's back in an attempt to quiet her. He scanned the rest of the kitchen for food.

Then his eyes came across the bags from the Food Emporium that Mark had left on the table. He walked over to the table, and began to search through the food items. The puppy sniffed at the bags excitedly.

Roger sighed as he searched through groceries only to find more soup, coffee, potato chips, and a box of Captain Crunch.

"Hmmm…" he wondered looking at the box of the sugary cereal. It wasn't kibble and certainly not healthy for the dog, but it was better than letting her starve.

"Will you eat this?" Roger wasn't sure why he was asking the puppy, who stared up at him blankly.

Roger put the puppy on the floor. She followed behind Roger as he took a plastic bowl out of the sink and opened the box of cereal. She wagged her shaggy tail excitedly as Roger stood over her, pouring the cereal into the bowl.

"Here, bab…I mean here," muttered Roger, bending over and putting the bowl on the floor before the dog.

By the time Roger stood back up, the puppy had already shoved her head into the bowl and was devouring the cereal. He couldn't help but smile as bits of cereal flew everywhere while the dog ate. She made Collin's look like a neat eater.

Within a few minutes, the puppy had finished the bowl of cereal and stared up at Roger, expectantly.

"Still hungry?" he asked. The puppy's tail wagged again, and Roger poured more cereal into the bowl. He watched in amazement as she polished off the second bowl of cereal just as fast as she'd eaten the first, and then licked up all of the crumbs.

"Okay, now it's time for you to get to bed," Roger declared and tried to pick the dog up. But before he could grasp her, the puppy had taken off in full sprint into the bedroom. Roger chased after her and entered the bedroom behind her just as she leaped onto the bed.

"No!" he exclaimed at the dog. "Get down." The dog stood on the edge of the bed, and barked. Roger walked over to the bed and scooped her up in his arms. She licked at his face as he tried to walk over to the cardboard box. The dog began to cry as Roger lowered her into the box.

"Stop it. It's time for bed." Roger gave the dog one last scratch behind her furry blonde ears as he headed back to his own bed. The puppy continued to whimper.

"It's just for one night," Roger assured her. "Then tomorrow you're going…" At that moment the dog pushed against the edge of the box until it fell on its side. Before he could move a muscle, the dog ran out of the box and leaped into Roger's lap. She proceeded to lick his face. Roger pushed her off of him, annoyed. He opened his mouth to yell at the puppy, but he stopped himself as he stared into the puppy's eyes.

Their chocolate color stood out against her light fur, and they had such a sad look in them, so much like Mimi's. He couldn't bring himself to yell at her. All he could do was sigh pull the dog back onto his lap.

She panted heavily and curled herself up as Roger stroked her back. Within a few minutes her eyelids fell shut, and her breathing began to slow. Roger smiled down at the sleeping puppy, debating over whether to put her back into the box. He decided against it, as didn't want to wake her again. He continued to pet her soft fur as his own eyelids began to feel heavy.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Two hours later, Mimi smiled to herself as she entered the bedroom to find Roger asleep. The shaggy little animal was still curled up in his arms.

**A/N: Sorry it took a while for an update… just been really busy with schoolwork (I never got the memo that once you hit high school, you don't spend the last month of class watching movies…go figure), karate & of course summer-job hunting. I know this chapter isn't too eventful, but Roger needed to fall in love with the dog. I promise the next chapter will be more…exciting (chewed up video reels anyone? ;] ) **


End file.
